


Belle of the Fall

by lavi0123



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Could Be Canon, Don’t debunk this Joey, Evil Lele, Gen, and let’s face it the Arthur plot twist was a cop-out, because I still think this is what happened, well sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 21:13:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19797883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lavi0123/pseuds/lavi0123
Summary: "You promised–" "You were weak. And for that, you will pay the price."***AU (or is it?) in which Lele was working for the Evil but changed her mind, far too late.





	Belle of the Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo I technically wrote this a year ago after first watching S1, but I held off on posting it until I finished the three seasons (and to see if Lele would appear in S4).
> 
> To be honest, I think this could be canon, and I still believe it is, and Joey can’t prove me wrong, so here’s my long-held theory in story form.

_Months before the guests arrived..._

As night fell, swallowing up the last golden rays of sunset, the house creaked. It knew darkness well, had lived in it for years, and sun always made it so terribly uncomfortable. Despite what villains always said, light was stronger than dark.

Amidst the growing darkness, a girl pushed open the door, her blond hair catching the last rays of sun. "Hello?"

"Ah, you made it."

She jumped slightly, looking up to the man with wary eyes. "You're Arthur? The one who summoned me?"

"That I am," he agreed. "And you are the lovely Miss Pons."

"You never did tell me how you know of me," she remarked, arching an eyebrow and swallowing her fear. This was no place to be weak.

He smirked. "I have my sources. So, tell me...did you consider my offer?"

She exhaled, steeling herself. "Yes, I did."

"And?"

"I..." she hesitated, feeling as though her conscience had gripped her in a tight hold, keeping her immobile. Time itself seemed to freeze, and she considered.

This man, Arthur, promised her fame, fortune. And she had nothing to lose–no family, friends, or anyone else who would miss her. Whatever price she had to pay (because nothing came without a price) was surely worth the reward.

"I agree to your terms." The words, however rushed they seemed, broke her out of whatever trance she'd been in. Her conscience receded, possibly in defeat, but for what reason, she didn't know.

He grinned. "Excellent, my dear. Here is what you must do..."

***

It was nothing at first, watching them die.

She never got to know Shane, though she lamented his goodness in a place so evil (and she blamed Joey, for inviting poor Shane to this place). Out of all the deaths, Lele mourned few, including his.

Andrea was too clever for her own good, and she'd started to see through Lele, who couldn't let that happen. That chamber was one of the few times when she truly feared that she'd chosen wrong, that the price for the Evil's favor was her life (Arthur, of course, mocked her for her fear, having been the one to sabotage Justine's control panel).

Justine...well, more than anything, Lele pitied her. It was so painfully obvious that she wasn't the one in league with the Evil, yet no one hesitated in burying her. Only Joey sprang to her defense; the rest took her cries (her weak, _human_ cries) as evidence of her guilt (the fools. The complete and utter fools!) Lele particularly narrowed her eyes at GloZell when none were looking, determined to see that coward among the dead. Lele mourned Justine–and, in her mind, marked the others (minus Joey) as dead in all the ways that mattered.

As it turned out, Joey (good, kind Joey whose only fault was his blind loyalty) was just as determined to see GloZell dead, surprising Lele. She hadn't pegged Joey as the vindictive type...though she hadn't predicted Justine's manner of death, either. Maybe some things couldn’t be predicted. Though all of this was starting to seem a bit too much like _Lord of the Flies_ for her taste.

Sierra's death was unnecessary, plain and simple, and it made her despise Matthew all the more. His laziness had cost an innocent girl her life, a girl who Lele had counted among her true friends in the group. Sierra was also among the few deaths Lele mourned, and the blonde's suspicions of the Evil deepened. Another innocent gone...was this the price? Making friends only to see them die?

Matthew, the next to die. She wasn't sorry to see him go, particularly since he'd had it out for her all this time. He couldn't have known–she'd done all that she could to "help" the group–so he just had it out for her. And he'd killed Sierra. No, quenching the vengeful satisfaction in her eyes had taken five minutes of splashing water on her face during that awful roulette game (but she trembled in that bathroom, once the rage was mostly gone, and wondered when she'd become the very thing she'd always seen in Matthew).

She didn't envy Eva's fate, trapped in a game of roulette with Tim as her opponent, though she was quite surprised when Eva returned, tearful and haunted. Lele's heart broke again, and before she could question herself, she hugged Eva. Roulette was a chance game, but Arthur's twisted version required cunning. Eva had outwitted Tim, and her return haunted Lele as much as it did Eva. Because it meant that no one was safe. Luck wasn't enough anymore, cleverness was a factor now. And despite what everyone thought, Lele was no Slytherin.

So she changed the story. Despite Eva's suspicions of Lele, the blonde turned animosity to friendship, made Eva into what Sierra had been: her friend, her confidante. She proposed that the remaining four vote themselves in to take on the electric chairs, ignoring Arthur's sharp look. She was done playing this game, done taking lives. She would not die a villain but live long enough to become a hero.

But Arthur cornered her just before she could leave, glaring her down. "I hope very much that you've said your goodbyes."

Her eyes widened then narrowed. So she wasn't going to get her chance...she wouldn't be able to redeem herself...and after everything! "You promised–"

"You were weak," Arthur hissed. "And for that, you will pay the price. The Evil does not take well to betrayal."

Without luck on her side, she panicked again, though this time for an entirely different reason. Her death was almost certain, but surely Joey could save her. Joey, who held few grudges and had a heart of gold, surely his aim would be true and save her. She screamed, cried, ranted, berated...and through the pain, she never was able to listen to her conscience, begging her to tell the truth, to reveal all.

Lele Pons did not live or die a hero, as she'd hoped, but as a villain, though no one knew it but her and the house.


End file.
